Love of the Sport.

Herro everyone....so this has been on my mind for awhile now, do people play or do sports because they're expected to? because of recognition? or just because it's what everyone else is doing. I don't know, but what I do know is not everyone does it because they LOVE the sport. Some people even do it, just for a paycheck, not even caring if they win or lose. They have no personal pride within themselves and some times it just irritates me. I know I'm not the best, I don't have a flawless record, etc. But I love what I do...It's a passion. I didn't realize it until I was deployed in 2008-2009...I wouldn't be able to sleep some nights, because I would stay up and think about everyone back home training, seeing all these pictures on facebook, and realizing I would have to play catch up with my skills when I got back. Also I just missed my HMC family....but I always go into the gym looking forward to training everyday and night. Sometimes I can't sleep on Wednesday nights because I'm so excited and want to try what I learned during the week on Thursday sparring nights. I always want to continue learning and evolving. I also like to pass on my knowledge as much as I can. It took me awhile to understand the concept of yourself getting better when you teach other people, you get to break down everything and get a better understanding of certain move, combos, etc. A lot of people don't see me out on the weekends and so on. It's because I'm either at the gym, home resting for the next day, or at home watching YouTube of technique all night. Don't get me wrong....I do go out occasionally, but rarely. No one sees you wake up at 6:00 am to drink your protein shake, get ready, and go work out (Tactical Strength & Conditioning)...then go to work...then go workout again (HMC). Doing laundry 3-5 times a week so your house doesn't stink! That's just a tiny bit of it. This would be just too long if I continued. So my main point is just to be true to yourself and do things because you LOVE to do them. Nothing else.

“Character is like the foundation of a house - it is below the surface.”

“The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours.” - Peggy Fleming